Nick Saban ‘Pissed Off’ About Disappointment Over Alabama’s Close Win At Arkansas [VIDEO]

Nick Saban was pleased with the win. So was Austin Shepherd, T.J. Yeldon, Jonathan Allen and the rest of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team.

So when the Alabama coach heard about the disappointment from outsiders about the Crimson Tide's narrow 14-13 win at Arkansas last Saturday, it took enough of a toll on him to cause on an outburst at his weekly Monday press conference.

"Everybody’s got such a high expectation for what our team should be," Saban said. "I was just happy to see our players be happy about playing a game and winning. It really, if you sort of want to know the truth about it, it pisses me off when I talk to people that have this expectation like they're disappointed that we only won the game, 14-13, and in the way we played.

"Really, that’s frustrating. You want to talk about something that’s frustrating? That’s frustrating to me and for our players, who play with a lot of heart in the game."

Right tackle Austin Shepherd had similar things to say when asked about the disappointment and frustration from some.

"Everyone wants us to win 60-0 and that’s just not possible," Shepherd said. "Arkansas is really, really good. They’re probably the team that’s gotten the best out of this league (from last year). Everybody should be happy with a win and you can’t win every game by 100 points, so you just got to be happy with some."

Against the Razorbacks, Alabama had a season-low 227 yards of total offense and fumbled four times on special teams, losing two of them.

"I mean, we pretty much don’t pay attention to stats, I don’t," running back T.J. Yeldon said. "As long as we win the game, that’s all we care about is winning the game. A win is a win."

Shepherd engaged

A win against Arkansas wasn't the only pleasing thing about last week for Austin Shepherd.

After three significant injuries against Ole Miss, Saban had no new major injuries to report on Monday but said wide receiver Amari Cooper and defensive end D.J. Pettway would be limited at practice later in the afternoon.

"Probably Pettway and maybe Coop will be just a little bit limited," Saban said. "But hopefully these guys will respond and be just fine."

Saban did not provide any details about the nature of the injuries. Cooper was briefly injured against Arkansas but later returned to the game.